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Simple Summary: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death, with an increasing incidence in younger patients presenting with more aggressive tumor biology. One clinical marker of immune response that has been studied and found to correlate with overall survival and cancer-specific survival is the lymph node ratio. The goal of our study was to find if age alone, adjusting for known factors that impact nodal harvest, independently impacted lymph node ratio in CRC. We found that age does not impact lymph node ratio in a clinically relevant manner, but that lymph node ratio is strongly corelated with grade and histology of the tumor. Introduction: Colon cancer among young patients has increased in incidence and mortality over the past decade. Our objective was to determine if age-related differences exist for total positive nodes (TPN), total lymph node harvest (TLH), and lymph node ratio (LNR). Material and Methods: A retrospective review of stage III surgically resected colorectal cancer patient data in the National Cancer Database (2004–2016) was performed, reviewing TPN, TLH, and LNR (TPN/TLH). Results: Unadjusted analyses suggested significantly higher levels of TLH and TPN (p < 0.0001) in younger patients, while LNR did not differ by age group. On adjusted analysis, TLH remained higher in younger patients (<35 years 1.56 (CI 95 1.54, 1.59)). The age-related effect was less pronounced for LNR (<35 years 1.16 (CI 95 1.13, 1.2)). Conclusion: Younger patients have increased TLH, even after adjusting for known confounders, while age does not have a strong independent impact on LNR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pancreatectomy has a significant rate of procedure-specific morbidity which can result in readmission. Readmission has been proposed as a measure of quality. The goal of this study is to determine what factors are associated with readmission after pancreatectomy and whether readmission can be prevented.Methods: A retrospective review of a single institution's pancreatectomies between January 2011 and April 2015 was performed. Demographic, perioperative, and outpatient data were collected from the medical record. Primary outcome was 90-day readmission. Univariate and multivariable analyses were performed to determine which factors were associated with increased risk for readmission.Results: A total of 257 patients met inclusion criteria; the 90-day readmission rate was 32.7%. The median time to readmission was 13 days. Readmitted patients were more likely to have a postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) on univariate analysis. Surgical site infections were more common in readmitted patients (18% vs 6.4%, P = .0138). Upon multivariable adjustment, only POPF (P = .0005) remained significant. A positive dose-response relationship was noted between POPF grade and the odds of readmission with odds ratios (ORs) ranging from 1.6 (95% Confidence Interval (CI): .6-4.1) for grade A to 16.7 (95% CI: 1.8-156.8) for grade C, albeit with limited precision.Conclusions: Readmission after pancreatectomy is a common occurrence despite the many advancements in perioperative care. Our data suggest that POPF is a risk factor for readmission after pancreatectomy. Presently, this factor is not clearly preventable. This suggests that readmission may not be the best measure of quality to utilize in the evaluation of pancreatic surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relatively few studies have compared outcomes between helicopter transport (HT) and ground transport (GT) for the inter-facility transfer of trauma patients to tertiary trauma centers (TTC). Mixed results have been reported from these studies ranging from a slight increase in odds of survival for the severely injured to no evident benefit for HT patients. We hypothesized there was no adjusted difference in mortality between patients transported interfacility by HT or GT taking into account distance from TTC. Data from an inclusive statewide trauma registry was used to conduct a retrospective cohort study of adult (18+ years old) trauma patients who initially presented to a non-tertiary trauma center (NTC) before subsequent transfer by HT or GT to a TTC. Records from the NTC and TTC were linked (N = 9880). We used propensity adjusted, multivariable Cox proportional hazards models to assess the association of HT on mortality at 72-hour and within the first 2 weeks of arrival at a TTC; these multivariable analyses were stratified by distance (miles) between NTC and TTC: 21-90, and greater than 90. Mean distance between NTC and TTC was greater for HT patients, 96.7 miles versus 69.9 miles for GT. A higher proportion of patients among the HT group had an ISS of 16 or higher (24.6% vs 10.9%), an initial SBP < 90 mmHg (7.3% vs 2.8%), and GCS < 10 (12.5% vs 3.7%) than the GT group. HT was associated with significantly decreased 72-hour mortality (HR 0.65, 95%CI 0.48-0.90) for patients transferred from a NTC <90 miles from the TTC. No association was seen for patients transferred more than 90 miles to the TTC. No significant association of HT and 2-week mortality was seen at any distance from the TTC. Only for patients transferred from an NTC <90 miles from the receiving TTC was HT associated with a significantly decreased hazard of mortality in the first 72 hours. Many HT patients, especially from the most distant NTCs, had minor injuries and normal vital signs at both the NTC and TTC suggesting the decision to use HT for these patients was resource-driven rather than clinical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Administrative health databases have been used to monitor trends in infective endocarditis hospitalization related to nonprescription injection drug use (IDU) using International Classification of Diseases (ICD) code algorithms. Because no ICD code for IDU exists, drug dependence and hepatitis C virus (HCV) have been used as surrogate measures for IDU, making misclassification error (ME) a threat to the accuracy of existing estimates. In a serial cross-sectional analysis, we compared the unadjusted and ME-adjusted prevalences of IDU among 70,899 unweighted endocarditis hospitalizations in the 2007–2016 National Inpatient Sample. The unadjusted prevalence of IDU was estimated with a drug algorithm, an HCV algorithm, and a combination algorithm (drug and HCV). Bayesian latent class models were used to estimate the median IDU prevalence and 95% Bayesian credible intervals and ICD algorithm sensitivity and specificity. Sex- and age group-stratified IDU prevalences were also estimated. Compared with the misclassification-adjusted prevalence, unadjusted estimates were lower using the drug algorithm and higher using the combination algorithm. The median ME-adjusted IDU prevalence increased from 9.7% (95% Bayesian credible interval (BCI): 6.3, 14.8) in 2008 to 32.5% (95% BCI: 26.5, 38.2) in 2016. Among persons aged 18–34 years, IDU prevalence was higher in females than in males. ME adjustment in ICD-based studies of injection-related endocarditis is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: It is well established that seriously injured older adults are under-triaged to tertiary trauma centers. However, the survival benefit of tertiary trauma centers (TC) compared to a non-tertiary trauma centers (Non-TCs) remains unclear for this patient population. Using improved methodology and a larger sample, we hypothesized that there was a difference in hospital mortality between injured older adults treated at TCs and those treated at Non-TCs. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of injured older adults (> =55 years) reported to the Oklahoma statewide trauma registry between 2005 and 2014. The outcome of interest was 30-day in-hospital mortality and the exposure variable of interest was level of definitive trauma care (TC vs Non-TC). Overall survival benefit of treatment at a TC as well as the survival benefit of transferring injured older adults to a TC were evaluated using multivariable survival analyses as well as propensity score-adjusted analyses. Results: Of the 25,288 patients eligible for analysis, 43% (10,927) were treated at TCs. Multivariable Cox regression analyses revealed effect modification by age group and time. After adjusting for potential confounders within the age strata, overall, patients treated at TCs were significantly less likely to die within 7 days of admission and this effect was stronger for patients aged 55–64 years (HR 0.41, 95% CI 0.31–0.52) compared to those > =65 years (HR 0.62, 95% CI 0.55–0.70). Overall survival benefit of TCs beyond 7 days was also observed (HR 0.68, 95% CI 0.56–0.83). Similarly, for the survival benefit of transferring injured older adults, after adjusting for the propensity to be transferred and other confounders, transfer to a TC was associated with lower 30-day mortality both for patients less than 65 years old (HR 0.36, 95% CI: 0.27–0.49) and those 65 years and older (HR 0.55, 95% CI: 0.48–0.64). Conclusions: Our results suggest a survival benefit for injured older adults treated at TCs. This benefit was also observed for patients transferred from non-tertiary trauma centers. Further research should focus on identifying specific subgroups of patients who would especially benefit from this level of care to minimize trauma triage inefficiencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Failure to account for misclassification error accruing from imperfect case-finding instruments can produce biased estimates of suspected major depression disorder (MDD) risk factor associations. The objective of this study was to estimate the impact of misclassification error on the magnitude of measures of association between suspected risk factors and MDD assessed using the Center of Epidemiological Studies on Depression—Short Form during the prenatal and postnatal periods. Baseline data were collected from 520 mothers participating in two home visitation studies in Oklahoma City between 2010 and 2014. A Bayesian binomial latent class model was used to compare the prevalence proportion ratio (PPR) between suspected risk factors and MDD with and without adjustment for misclassification error and confounding by period of MDD symptom on-set. Adjustment for misclassification error and confounding by period of MDD on-set (prenatal vs postnatal) showed that the association between suspected risk factors and MDD is underestimated (-) and overestimated (+) differentially in different source populations of low-income mothers. The median bias in the magnitude of PPR estimates ranged between -.47 (95% Bayesian Credible Intervals [BCI]: -10.67, 1.90) for intimate partner violence to +.06 (95%BCI: -0.37, 0.47) for race/ethnicity among native-born US residents. Among recent Hispanic immigrants, bias ranged from -.77 (95%BCI: -15.31, 0.96) for history of childhood maltreatment to +.10 (95%BCI: -0.17, 0.39) for adequacy of family resources. Overall, the extent of bias on measures of association between maternal MDD and suspected risk factors is considerable without adjustment for misclassification error and is even higher for confounding by period of MDD assessment. Consideration of these biases in MDD prevention research is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: While out-of-hospital under-triage of seriously injured older adults to tertiary trauma centers has long been acknowledged, no study has adjusted for place of injury or evaluated the extent of inter-facility under-triage. We sought to determine distance and confounder adjusted odds of treatment at a tertiary trauma center (TTC) for older adult trauma patients compared to younger trauma patients, for patients transported fromthe scene of injury and those transferred from a non-tertiary trauma (NTTC) center. Methods: Thiswas a retrospective cohort study utilizing data from a statewide trauma registry reported over a 10-year period (2005-14). The outcome of interest was treatment at an American College of Surgeons or state-designated Level I/II trauma center (TTC). The predictor variable of interest was age group (> = 55 years vs. < 55 years). Covariates of interest included patient demographics, clinical characteristics and various distance measures calculated based on the patient's injury location. Results: 84 930 patients met study criteria. Of these 42% (35659) were 55 years and older with an average age of 74 years (SD, 11.6). Older adult patients were on average, injured slightly farther away from a TTC (median distance, 34 vs. 29 miles, p < 0.001). Among patients initially presenting to NTTCs, older adults were significantly more likely to be transferred to another NTTC (53% vs. 34%). After adjusting for confounders and distancemeasures, older adults were less likely to be treated at TTCs overall (OR = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.52-0.56), whether transported by EMS from the scene of injury (OR = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.44-0.50) or via inter-facility transfer (OR = 0.63, 95%CI: 0.59-0.68). Conclusions: Injured older adults face significant undertriage to TTCs whether by EMS from the scene of injury or via transfer from NTTCs. Adjusting for proximity of injury to a TTC does not alter these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: A review of the literature yielded little information regarding factors associated with the decision to use ground (GEMS) or helicopter (HEMS) emergency medical services for trauma patients transferred inter-facility. Furthermore, studies evaluating the impact of inter-facility transport mode on mortality have reported mixed findings. Since HEMS transport is generally reserved for more severely injured patients, this introduces indication bias, which may explain the mixed findings. Our objective was to identify factors at referring non-tertiary trauma centers (NTC) influencing transport mode decision. Methods: This was a case-control study of trauma patients transferred from a Level III or IV NTC to a tertiary trauma center (TTC) within 24-hours reported to the Oklahoma State Trauma Registry between 2005 and 2012. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine clinical and non-clinical factors associated with the decision to use HEMS. Results: A total of 7380 patients met the study eligibility. Of these, 2803(38%) were transported inter-facility by HEMS. Penetrating injury, prehospital EMS transport, severe torso injury, hypovolemic shock, and TBI were significant predictors (p<0.05) of HEMS use regardless of distance to a TTC. Association between HEMS use and male gender, Level IV NTC, and local ground EMS resources varied by distance from the TTC. Many HEMS transported patients had minor injuries and normal vital signs. Conclusions: Our results suggest that while distance remains the most influential factor associated with HEMS use, significant differences exist in clinical and non-clinical factors between patients transported by HEMS versus GEMS. To ensure comparability of study groups, studies evaluating outcome differences between HEMS and GEMS should take factors determining transport mode into account. The findings will be used to develop propensity scores to balance baseline risk between GEMS and HEMS patients for use in subsequent studies of outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adding fellows to surgical departments with residency programs can affect resident education. Our specific aim was to evaluate the effect of adding a pediatric surgery (PS) fellow on the number of index PS cases logged by the general surgery (GS) residents. At a single institution with both PS and GS programs, we examined the number of logged cases for the fellows and residents over 10 years [5 years before (Time 1) and 5 years after (Time 2) the addition of a PS fellow]. Additionally, the procedure related relative value units (RVUs) recorded by the faculty were evaluated. The fellows averaged 752 and 703 cases during Times 1 and 2, respectively, decreasing by 49 (P = 0.2303). The residents averaged 172 and 161 cases annually during Time 1 and Time 2, respectively, decreasing by 11 (P = 0.7340). The total number of procedure related RVUs was 4627 and 6000 during Times 1 and 2, respectively. The number of cases logged by the PS fellows and GS residents decreased after the addition of a PS fellow; however, the decrease was not significant. Programs can reasonably add an additional PS fellow, but care should be taken especially in programs that are otherwise static in size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trauma surgeons frequently encounter destructive bowel injuries. The timing of the repair of the bowel injury should be performed in patients with planned open abdomen management and second-look laparotomy has not been specifically addressed. Our primary objective was to determine if there was a significant difference in the incidence of major complications between immediate and delayed repair among patients with traumatic bowel injuries and planned open abdomens. This was a retrospective cohort study of adult patients with traumatic bowel injuries treated between 2001 and 2011 and who underwent laparotomy and were left with an open abdomen with a planned second operation. Pediatric patients (age less than 15 years) and patients who died in the first 24 hours of admission were excluded. The primary exposure of interest was dichotomously defined based on either definitive repair of the bowel injury during the initial trauma operation (immediate) or definitive repair during a subsequent surgery (delayed). Major complications were defined as enterocutaneous fistula, dehiscence, and abscess. Ninety-two patients met study eligibility. Of these, 50 (54%) underwent immediate bowel repair. Univariate analysis suggested no significant differences in the proportion of major complications between the two groups. After adjusting for Injury Severity Score, penetrating injury, initial base deficit, and presence of colon injury, there was no statistical difference in incidence of major complications between the two groups. Patients undergoing immediate versus delayed repair of traumatic bowel injuries and who are left with an open abdomen have comparable outcomes in terms of major complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]